Space Debris

Distribution of space debris around the Earth. According to NASA, more than 500,000 pieces of debris, or “space junk,” are tracked as they orbit the Earth. More than 20,000 pieces of this debris larger than a softball. There are 500,000 pieces of debris the size of a marble or larger. There are many millions of pieces of debris that are so small they can’t be tracked. There are also millions of micrometeoroids Notes 1 orbiting the Earth at very high speeds. Image: ESA